


Scars

by Revyra



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-27 04:13:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13872879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Revyra/pseuds/Revyra
Summary: there isn’t a single whisper about how cody got that fancy scar on his head so like even though he probably tripped and stabbed himself on some scissors we’ll pretend he did something lowkey badass like this





	Scars

“Sir,” came the shiny’s hesitant voice.

Cody paused only for a moment to gather himself before glancing over to where the rest of the infiltration team crouched not far from him. They glowed green in the night vision, and his gaze flickered over to the shiny who had spoken.

“What is it, Flapjack?” he asked, trying not to sound as wound up as he felt.

“The tunnel isn’t supposed to be this long.”

The tension between the four of them was thick enough to be cut. Waxer and Boil clearly had the same thought. Cody supposed he had to give Flapjack some credit for having the guts to point it out.

“I know, Flapjack.” He winced slightly as the words left him a touch more harshly than he had meant them to.

“Sir,” Waxer said, edging forward so he was crouched next to Cody. “We knew coming in that the maps weren’t up to date, but they can’t have been this out of date. This tunnel is new.”

“This is the main tunnel,” Cody said, glaring down it. Even with the night vision enabled he couldn’t see much. “It can’t be new.”

“Well clearly they dug a hell of a lot farther than we thought,” Boil grumbled.

“So you think we should turn back?” Cody quipped, gaze snapping back to fix on Boil.

Waxer knocked one hand against Boil’s shoulder, then shifted, almost falling onto Cody in the cramped space. Cody offered one hand to help Waxer steady himself, which he gladly accepted. “I think we’ve come a long way past what we thought there’d be,” Waxer said pacifyingly as he resituated himself. “We should tell the General before we move on.”

Cody shook his head. “There’s no signal down here. We’d have to go back and that would cost us time we don’t have. We need to find their base or we could all get wiped out.”

“Yes, sir,” came the muted chorus behind him. They weren’t thrilled with his decision. Gritting his teeth and tightening his grip on his blaster, Cody started forward again. He didn’t like it either. Their intel was off by enough to put him on edge, but it wasn't like they had much of a choice.

They had received intel saying that the Separatists were using a series of tunnels to smuggle weapons in. The Separatists had gotten a massive head start, leaving the Republic troops hopelessly outgunned. A surprise attack on their base was the only chance they had to get the upper hand.

Cody hoped he was making the right decision, deciding to continue on instead of turning back. He’d taken the most experienced men the 212th could afford to spare, but their experience was severely limited. They hadn’t exactly been out of training for long. The war was barely a month old, but it was quickly proving to be an ugly one. Training could only prepare them so much. In training they got more chances; out here they didn’t.

He’d already had to watch his brothers die. It was a sobering, harsh reality that they all faced now. He could only hope that everything worked out here.

They continued down the tunnel in silence until finally Cody caught sight of light. Raising one hand, he stopped, honing in on the light. Everyone stopped behind him, waiting with bated breath.

The light seemed to be streaming down from above. Cody edged forward a bit more, trying to determine if it was artificial or natural lighting. An ever so faint breeze gaze him his answer.

“There’s an opening up above just ahead,” he said quietly. “Keep your heads down and stay quiet. We are only here for intel, so keep the safety on on your blasters. We don’t want any misfires giving us away and we will not engage anyone or anything we come across. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good,” Cody muttered, mostly to himself. He narrowed his eyes at the daylight and started forward. They came to a stop just before the hole. It was fairly small, possibly not even made by the droids. Edging forward, Cody straightened up and peeked out of the hole. Trees surrounded them and he couldn’t see any tripwires rigging the hole. Perhaps it had been made by an animal.

“See anything, Commander?” Waxer asked.

Cody turned and stopped short, his heart freezing in his chest for one terrifying moment. They were still hidden by the trees, but there was a very obvious clearing not too far from where they were. A quick glance around revealed that there was nobody around to see them. “I think we came up behind them,” Cody said, narrowing his eyes. If they had, they had just gotten the lucky break they’d been waiting for.

Quietly, he rested his hands on the ground and jumped up, climbing out of the hole. He made his way quickly behind a tree for cover, watching as the others followed suit. Once they were all out, Cody turned his attention back to the clearing.

There was some kind of base there. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that it wasn’t exactly in use, if it was at all. It was poorly maintained and Cody couldn’t detect a single droid.

“Looks like it’s abandoned, sir,” Flapjack said.

“You might be right, Flapjack,” Cody said, moving behind another tree to get a better look at the compound. “Let’s check it out. Boil, Waxer, you two stay here and make sure nothing creeps up on us.”

“Yes, Sir,” Waxer said. Boil nodded.

“Let’s go, Flapjack,” Cody said, slinking out into the opening. Flapjack followed close behind.

Slowly they made their way around front, sticking close to the wall. Once they turned the corner, Cody stopped, a low whistle leaving him. The entire front of the compound was unfinished. The Separatists must have abandoned it halfway through construction.

“They must’ve left in a hurry,” Flapjack commented, straightening up beside Cody. “You think they knew we were coming?”

“Yeah they heard us four were coming and decided to book it,” Cody joked, then shook his head. “No, you can tell from the wear on the sides and wiring that it’s been abandoned for awhile,” he said, gesturing to the frayed and rusted materials.

“Huh," Flapjack said, then turned to look inside. "Think they left anything useful behind?”

Cody shrugged. “We’ll see if they left anything we can use to juice our stuff up with. Other than that there’s probably nothing for us _organics_ ,” he said, drawing out the word mockingly.

Flapjack laughed, then stepped into the compound.

Cody followed. “Be careful,” he warned. “They may have left in a hurry, but they might have rigged it before they left.”

“Why not just blow it up and save themselves the trouble?” Flapjack asked.

“A trap’s a trap,” Cody said. “Might as well take a few of us out if they weren’t going to get anything else out of this place.”

“I’ll keep an eye out, sir,” Flapjack said, nodding sagely.

Cody watched with a faint smile as Flapjack turned and headed off into the compound. He liked Flapjack. With any luck he’d make a fine trooper. This mission was already proving that he’d be a valuable asset to the 212th.

With that in mind, Cody headed the opposite way of Flapjack, taking care to avoid cramped areas where tripwire could be strung. He found fuel cells and a few dated weapons. Nothing too exciting. Turning, he headed back.

“Find anything, Flapjack?” he called.

“Sir!” came Flapjack’s excited voice. “I found rocket launchers! Recent models too!”

Cody frowned. Recent models? There shouldn’t have been anything recent in this compound- “Flapjack don’t touch-” his shout was immediately drowned out by an explosion.

A ghastly red fireball flooded the compound, the force of the explosion tossing Cody aside with laughable ease. He hit the ground hard, his helmet flying off. Burning air swept over him as the explosion rolled out above him.

Stunned only for a moment, Cody immediately flipped onto his stomach, searching the flames. “Flapjack!” he yelled.

“Commander!” came a shout from the trees.

Waxer and Boil had moved around to the side from the back. Waxer now sprinted out while Boil lingered at the edge of the forest, firing into the trees. He quickly vanished as blasterfire returned, red bolts flying through the air. The bomb hadn’t been the whole trap, Cody realized, horror seeping through him.

Shoving himself to his feet, he waved Waxer back. “Help Boil, I’ll get Flapjack!”

Waxer nodded, then spun and bolted back into the trees.

“Help!” A weak cry drifted through the sound of blasterfire and the burning compound.

Cody whipped around. There- just ahead of the crackling flames Flapjack was dragging himself across the ground. His armor was scorched black below his waist and up his back, parts of it obviously melted. Cody broke into a sprint, ignoring the suffocating heat that crisped his skin and brought tears to his eyes as he got closer to the blaze.

Ducking down, he grabbed Flapjack’s arm and slung it over his shoulder, dragging the trooper up. Flapjack cried something unintelligible, going rigid and almost seeming to try to pull himself away from Cody.

“Don’t fight me!” Cody snarled through gritted teeth. He started forward in a stumbling run, trying not to jostle Flapjack too much, but ultimately not too concerned as they would both die if they didn’t get away from the inferno.

Looking up, he caught sight of flashes of white and yellow flitting between the trees. Blue and red bolts flew through the smoke like ghosts as Waxer and Boil kept the droids at bay.

Cody couldn’t hear anything but the roar of the fire behind them and then he couldn’t hear anything at all. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and suddenly the fire sucked back away from them, leaving a gaping cold front.

Eyes wide with fear, Cody struggled forward. Flapjack had gone limp, weighing him down and his legs weren’t moving fast enough and they had to get out of the way now-

The world exploded with a thunderous blast that seemed to crack the heavens open. Cody and Flapjack were flung away like dolls with the force of the explosion. Losing his grip on Flapjack, Cody hit the ground hard, skidding ungracefully before he managed to scramble halfway to his feet.

Pain exploded blindingly in Cody’s head as something metal and jagged suddenly flew out of the haze, crashing into him before he could react. He crumpled back to the ground with a scream that scraped his throat raw, clutching the left side of his head.

Everything ceased to exist except for the excruciating pain tearing him apart at the seams. Darkness choked at him, doing nothing to stifle the screaming in his head that would not stop. Liquid fire seared his nerves, burning him alive. It hurt it hurt IT HURT- He couldn't tell if he was screaming anymore but he had to be because somehow there was still air in his lungs and somehow he still wasn't dead.

Choking on tears and his own blood, he slammed his free hand into the ground, trying to find some way to ground himself.

He couldn’t die.

He would not die here.

They were going to live- all four of them. They had to.

Finally clawing his way back to consciousness, Cody pried one eye open.

The world was burning.

He could see blackened armor lying not too far from him. 

Taking his hand off his face, he watched uncomprehendingly as it shook uncontrollably, slick with crimson blood. He couldn’t open his left eye. Distantly he wondered if he’d lost it. Pushing the thought away, he decided to worry about it later if he was still alive. Right now he had to get to Flapjack.

“Flapjack?” he croaked, digging his fingers uselessly into the ground to try to drag himself forward. Something was wrong with Flapjack. He didn’t look right, his body twisted at some unnatural angle and his limbs- Cody couldn’t understand what he was seeing. His stomach turned violently and he retched. Nothing came up, but the movement made his head explode into stars again.

“Commander!”

A sudden shout pierced the haze, dragging Cody’s attention away from Flapjack’s broken body. He recognized Waxer’s voice.

“I’m here,” he tried to yell, but it came out a whisper. “I’m here…”

Waxer continued to call desperately. It wasn’t long before Boil joined in, fury and fear giving his cry a cutting edge.

_“I’m here, I’m here-”_

Cody tried to push himself up. The shaking spread from his hands to his arms like a disease, making it impossible to steady himself.

A sudden curse echoed through the haze and suddenly Cody felt hands on him. “I found him!” Waxer yelled and then his voice dropped. “Cody are you alright?” he asked, hauling Cody to his unsteady feet.

“Flapjack,” Cody whispered. Waxer fell silent, then tried to pull Cody away. He resisted. “We can’t leave him here!” he cried.

Boil suddenly appeared on his good side. “Cody come on,” he said harshly, trying to push Cody away.

“No!” Cody screamed, fighting Boil’s grip, knowing that he was being irrational but helpless to stop himself. “No, please we have to-”

“Cody he’s gone!” Boil snarled, grabbing him. Cody struggled only for a moment longer before a wave of dizzying nausea swept over him. He staggered, held upright only by his men. His head felt like it was splitting.

“Stay alive, Cody, we’re gonna get you back,” Waxer said. He sounded like he was crying.

Cody wanted to cry too.

He didn’t know how long it was before they got back to base. He drifted in and out of consciousness, reality blurring with fantasy, the pain in his head driving him to the brink of insanity.

“Cody?” General Kenobi’s stunned voice pierced the fog, forcing Cody to make a pitiful attempt at lucidity. “Someone get Blue!”

“It was a trap,” Cody rasped, sagging in Waxer and Boil’s grips. His legs were refusing to support him anymore. “It was a trap, General. I’m sorry I should have stopped him, I should have-” He could feel his words slurring together as he rambled nonsensically. The darkness was creeping up on him again. This time he got the sense that there would be no coming back from it.

“Don’t try to speak, Cody,” came the General’s distant voice. “Save your strength.”

Blue was suddenly on him and he was being brought into the medic tent- Hopefully to get fixed. It would be a shame if he died, he thought as the darkness began to crowd his vision. He never got to say goodbye to anyone.

He’d disappointed the General. They hadn’t even found where the Separatists were. All he’d accomplished was wasting precious time and getting Flapjack killed.

He could feel himself slipping. The darkness was inviting.

Would he be able to see Flapjack again? The Jedi always said that they returned to the universe or something like that when they died. He hoped it was true. He needed to apologize to him. Apologize for not saving him. For playing a part in snuffing out his all too short life.

He could faintly hear Blue. He was saying something about lacerations and a fractured eye socket. Maybe a concussion? Perhaps that was why his head hurt so much.

But where was Rex? He didn’t want Rex to see him like this. It’d make him worry. Rex always pretended to be so tough, but Cody could see right through him. He didn’t want to worry Rex. But still… it was probably too late to be concerned about that.

“We’re losing him!” Blue’s voice echoed from a world away. "Commander! Dammit, Cody stay with us!"

Cody didn’t want to go, but he couldn’t hold on any longer. There was an apology on his lips, but he couldn’t tell if he was saying it.

He faded into darkness.


End file.
